Chinrest device and systems and methods of use thereof

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a chinrest device for changing a display on a display device. The chinrest device may be removably attached to a stand or musical instrument and may be associated with a display device. Also described herein are methods of using a chinrest device or system to change a display (e.g., to turn the page of a book or musical score) on a display device.

I/We claim: 
     
         1 . A chinrest device, comprising:
 a contacting surface comprising a contour for receiving at least one of a neck, jaw, chin or head;   at least one control mechanism;   at least one sensor in communication with the at least one control mechanism; and   a transceiver in communication with the at least one sensor.   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the chinrest device further comprises an attachment mechanism. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the attachment mechanism is adapted to attach the chinrest device to a violin, a viola or a chinrest device stand. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the control mechanism comprises an adjustment device for adjusting the position of the control mechanism on the contacting surface. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising an indicator light. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising a processor, wherein the processor is in communication with the at least one sensor and the transceiver. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 6 , further comprising a battery to power at least one of the transceiver, the at least one sensor or the processor. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the contacting surface comprises a material selected from a group consisting of leather, plastic, nylon composite, polylactic acid, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, plastic composite, ceramic, fiberglass, epoxy, metal, carbon-fiber, fiber-glass, wood, foam, cotton and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the control mechanism is selected from a group consisting of a button, a touch sensitive sensor, a vertical lever, a light sensitive sensor, a rotating knob, a multi-directional joystick, a pivot, a level sensor, an accelerometer, a heat-sensitive sensor, a load cell sensor, a spring and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is a wireless communications device selected from a group consisting of a Wi-Fi device, Bluetooth device, WLAN device, WPAN device and 4G device. 
     
     
         11 . A system for controlling a display of at least one display device, comprising:
 a chinrest device; and   at least one display device comprising:
 a memory; 
 a wireless transceiver; 
 a display; and 
 a processor operatively coupled to the memory, the wireless transceiver and the display, wherein the processor is configured to:
 receive a chinrest device output signal from a chinrest device via the wireless transceiver; 
 determine a display action based on the chinrest device output signal; 
 access data on which the display action is to be performed from the memory; and 
 perform the display action on the data. 
 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the display action is selected from a group consisting of a forward or backward page turn, a forward or backward scroll, a forward or backward half page turn, a fractional page turn, a jump to the first or last page in a document, a jump to a different document, a jump to a custom position marker, a change in size of a musical notation, a change in an element of a musical notation, or a change in a portion of musical notation and showing or hiding a reference notation for musicians other than a performer. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the chinrest device comprises a control mechanism, and wherein different control signals are transmitted depending on the manner of actuation of the control mechanism. 
     
     
         14 . A computer-implemented method of changing a display on a display device using a chinrest device, comprising:
 receiving by a sensor of a chinrest device, an input signal from a control mechanism of the chinrest device;   generating a chinrest device output signal by the chinrest device sensor;   transmitting, by the chinrest device, the chinrest device output signal to a display device, wherein a processor of the display device determines a display action based on the chinrest device output signal and accesses data on which the display action is to be performed from a memory of the display device; and   performing a display action by the display device, wherein performing the display action comprises displaying at least a portion of the data on a user interface of the display device.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the display device is selected from a group consisting of a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, an e-book reader, a television, a wireless projector, a smartphone and a monitor. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the control mechanism is selected from a group consisting of a button, a touch sensitive sensor, a vertical lever, a light sensitive sensor, a rotating knob, a multi-directional joystick, a pivot, a level sensor, an accelerometer, a heat-sensitive sensor, a load cell sensor, a spring and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the input signal from the control mechanism results from actuation of the control mechanism. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein actuation of the control mechanism comprises moving the control mechanism from a first position to a second position. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein actuation of the control mechanism comprises pivoting the control mechanism in a lateral motion or moving the control mechanism in a vertical motion. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the display is selected from a group consisting of a digital musical score, a digital book, a text file, a spreadsheet, a digital presentation, a webpage and series of computer screens. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the data comprises a musical score, and wherein performing the display action comprises changing a page of the musical score. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the input signal from the control mechanism results from actuation of a button, a touch sensitive sensor, a vertical lever, a light sensitive sensor, a rotating knob, a multi-directional joystick, a pivot, a level sensor, an accelerometer, a heat-sensitive sensor, a load cell sensor and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the data is selected from a group consisting of a chinrest device driver application, a chinrest device image viewer application and a digital musical score file. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the chinrest device is attached to a violin, a viola or a chinrest device stand.